What do Clients Look for in a Lawyer?
Law firms have a fascination with discovering what clients look for in a lawyer. Yet to the best of my knowledge, the answers coming back from clients haven’t changed for the last 20 years.
There are 4 As. I’m not sure who first described the relationship in these terms, but it’s as true now as ever. Clients are asking themselves:
- Affability – Do I like you, and do you like me? Clients don’t expect you to always be interesting, but they expect you to be interested in them.
- Ability – Are you good at what you do? You might ponder how I would know; much of it is your firm’s reputation, coupled with the professionalism you display when I meet you.
- Affordability – Can I afford you? This is not the same question as “how much do you cost?”. My willingness to pay is related to my understanding of the seriousness of my position and the perceived results of a successful outcome.
- Availability – Are you available to work with me, and are you keen to work with me? It doesn’t have to be you personally doing the work, but if it’s not you I’m buying you need to tell me why not upfront. If I’ve built trust with you, I’d prefer to work with you.
The Client's View
The client rates these factors in the order:
- Affability – I want to work with people I like.
- Availability – I want to work with someone who wants to work with me & can do so.
- Affordability – I want you to offer good value.
- Ability – Since you work for a good firm, I assume you're a good lawyer, so sector expertise means more than legal know-how.
The Lawyer's View
The lawyer commonly presents himself or herself in the order [with the underlying message in brackets]:
- Ability – I know your problem, have seen it before, and can fix it. [Be quiet and let me tell you the solution]
- Availability – You’ll get me, because I'm an expert. [In fact I’d rather not delegate anything to anyone]
- Affability- The main thing is that we are good lawyers. Let's concentrate on the matter in hand. [Just look at the brochure with the client quotes.]
- Affordability – Let’s not talk money. [I’ll tell you about our hourly rates in an e-mail after the meeting]
2 Implications
- If the lawyer is leading with the ability card, yet the client is looking for affability, we are immediately off to a poor start. You can mitigate this by showing your interest though planned questions. These allow the client to put the project in a wider context, and allow you to show your wisdom through the choice of question.
- A client can only decide affordability by setting gain against cost. We cannot assume that the client knows why we are recommending what we are, and what would be the costs/implications of not taking this action. Their budget may be too small, and we must therefore be open in discussing the overall cost set against the overall benefit. This is best done face-to-face.
Practical Implementation. The next time you are discussing a project with a client, ask questions that put the project in context. As the meeting progresses ask about the impact/costs of not doing the project, either now, or not at all. Ask & listen. Doing so will cover the affability, ability and affordability bases in a very professional manner.